One more important thing to say about the Blastoise Test Prints before I move on to some of the other topics.
Counterfeits do exist, so be very careful with raw single examples.
The real cards are extremely rare, so you’re more likely to encounter a fake than a real one.
They can be identified with high resolution images of the card face.
Feel free to send me a message before buying if you’re uncertain, and include good pictures. Facebook is the best place to find me, but I’m around other places also.
CGC is also capable of identifying the counterfeit Blastoise cards.
You could request that the seller have their card graded at CGC before you buy it.
The seller will probably be aware (or at least suspicious) that their card is fake, and they might decline to have it graded, but at least you won’t get scammed.
These have a higher level of craftsmanship than most counterfeits.
The counterfeiter acquired a real modern sheet of foil Magic cards, used solvent to remove the ink from the card faces, and printed the fake Blastoise image with an offset printing press. These fakes were not cheap to make.
They ended up being sold from a website and on eBay for 3 digits each, a price that’s too good to be true if the card were real.
The counterfeit Blastoise cards showed up around April 2022.
Arjun Dhillon sent me images of two cards, to see if I’d be able to spot them as fakes.
I did spot them.
He also told me that he was fond of AGS grading company, and had submitted over a hundred first edition base set cards to them.
A month later, it was a big scandal that AGS had been grading real shadowless cards with fake 1st Edition stamps.
AGS Grading Fake 1st Ed Base Cards
Rattle made a playlist about some of the scams this person has attempted.
YouTube Playlist
The counterfeit Blastoise cards ended up being sold for 3 digits each on a website and on eBay.
Buyers should have been suspicious about the price.
One of the fakes was submitted to CGC in December 2023.
They wrote an article about it, which includes info that can help you spot the fakes.
CGC Article on Counterfeit Blastoise
Someone who had purchased on eBay, tried to sell one of these fakes to a friend of mine in June 2024.
Again I was able to spot that it’s not an authentic card.
It’s not something that I see often, but they’re out there, and people need to know to be careful.
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If anyone is planning to grade a Blastoise Test Print, I highly recommend using CGC.
CGC has graded all the other Blastoise Test Prints, so they’re the grading company with the most experience for these cards, and they didn’t get fooled by the fake ones.
I don’t have much confidence in the ability of other grading companies to authenticate one of these cards, if they’ve never seen a real one before. It’s just a matter of having the experience to get the job done.
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Update: May 2026
More fake Blastoise cards have hit the market.
This time they’re styled after the authentic bottom row of 5 cards which sold on Heritage back in June 2025.
This new batch of fakes is not made by Arjun, they’re lower quality fakes, apparently made by the same person who made the fake disco cards awhile back.
This new batch of fakes is fake on both sides of the card.
Anyone who is experienced at authenticating Magic: The Gathering cards, should be able to identify these as fakes from the back relatively easily. They’re bad enough that I don’t even need a magnified image of the print dots to tell they’re fake.
They were discussed on Reddit early in May 2026. Reddit
That person on Reddit also submitted it to CGC, who confirmed it was fake.
These fakes have been posted on eBay several times, and sometimes the listing gets deleted because the cards are fake.
